David Eckstein singled, doubled and tripled to wrap up an 11-for-16 series, setting the table for the St. Louis Cardinals in a 10-3 victory over Derek Lowe and the sloppy Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday.
Chris Carpenter (5-2) struck out eight in seven innings, Yadier Molina had three hits in his first start since spraining his left ankle last weekend, and John Mabry hit a two-run double as he subbed for injured Scott Rolen for the second straight game.
St. Louis, which completed a 4-4 homestand, beat the Dodgers at home for the eighth time in nine games.
"Yeah, I had a good series, but we've got another game tomorrow," Eckstein said. "One at-bat feeds into the next one. Just getting to where you feel comfortable and taking good swings, that's the key."
Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols struck out three times in a game for the first time this season. After striking out seven times in his first 26 games, he has fanned six times in the last eight games.
Milton Bradley homered in the second inning for the Dodgers, who conceded two errors and a passed ball in a five-run third inning that included four unearned runs.
"I was watching Derek Lowe and I was getting all kinds of ugly nightmares about October," manager Tony La Russa said. "We caught some breaks, there were some funny plays there."
Lowe (2-4), who last year helped the Boston Red Sox win their first World Series title since 1918, allowed six runs -- two earned -- and 10 hits in five innings with two walks and six strikeouts.
Reds 7, Phillies 5
In Philadelphia, Adam Dunn homered in consecutive at-bats and tied his career high with five RBIs, leading Cincinnati past Philadelphia.
Dunn hit a two-run shot in the fifth inning and a tiebreaking three-run drive off Jon Lieber (5-2) in the sixth for his third multihomer game of the season.
Ken Griffey Jr. also homered and had three hits for the Reds in just their third victory in 14 games. Ramon Ortiz (1-1) was the winner, and Danny Graves pitched the final inning for his ninth save in 11 chances.
Bobby Abreu homered for the fifth straight game for Philadelphia. The Phillies have lost three in a row to drop to 15-21.
Giants 6, Astros 3
In Houston, Mike Matheny singled in the tying run in the sixth for San Francisco and Lance Berkman's error on the play allowed the go-ahead run to score against Houston.
Brad Hennessey (2-0), recalled from minor league team Triple-A Fresno on Thursday, allowed three runs on six hits in six innings. and Tyler Walker pitched the ninth for his second save.
Craig Biggio hit two home runs, and Morgan Ensberg also connected for the Astros.
Andy Pettitte (2-4) was the loser. The Astros have lost three straight and nine of 10 to fall to 12-22, 10 games behind first-place St. Louis in the National League Central.
Diamondbacks 6, Rockies 3
In Denver, Jose Cruz Jr. hit two solo homers for Arizona against Colorado in front of the smallest announced crowd -- 18,184 -- in Coors Field history.
Cruz hit his first homer in the seventh inning off Shawn Chacon (1-3) for a 3-1 lead, then another in the ninth off David Cortes to make it 4-2. Chad Tracy and Tony Clark homered for Arizona, and Todd Helton connected for Colorado.
Arizona's Russ Ortiz (3-2) allowed eight hits and two runs over six-plus innings.
Colorado pitcher Christian Parker and Chicago White Sox utilityman Jorge Toca were among 11 players given 15-game suspensions on Thursday for violating the MLB's minor league doping policy.
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